February opens with the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Pluto all in Aquarius. This innovative sign symbolizes the maturation of the element of Air, which represents the thinking mind and tends to focus on the future, foreseeing what others cannot yet imagine. On February 1, the Full Snow Moon in Leo sets off this concentrated Aquarian emphasis, reminding us to feel our feelings and not lose ourselves in over-intellectualizing our experiences.
This month also brings us Mercury’s first retrograde period of the year, when it will spend a whopping five weeks (February 6 – April 14) in the dreamy, diffusive sign of Pisces instead of the typical two weeks per sign during ordinary, direct motion. We may find it difficult to maintain focus, and our linear, logical selves may be just unavailable at times. On the flip side, this is a great time to enjoy silence, tap into the poetic mind, enjoy music and the arts, and appreciate non-verbal communication.
♈ Aries Moon
It seems now is the time to start building, Aries Moon. The Full Moon in Leo suggests that great inspiration can bubble up to guide you when you simply take action and start the process.
♉ Taurus Moon
The Leo Full Moon describes striking a balance between extending yourself beyond your comfort zone and satisfying your natural urge to return to familiarity, safety, and home. A little pleasure can go a long way this month, especially if the world has you feeling stretched lately.
♊ Gemini Moon
Your comfort zone may be growing less and less comfortable, Gemini Moon. This Full Moon in Leo is urging you to expand horizons and take the first steps towards a new way of thinking about your belonging to the world.
♋ Cancer Moon
Though you may not want to think practically about the possessions you cherish—and how they weigh you down or lift you up—the Leo Full Moon is asking you to do just that. Sentimentality is on the chopping block, Cancer Moon, as you’re given an opportunity to release outgrown self-identifications and misplaced loyalties.
♌ Leo Moon
This is your Full Moon of 2026! Though you would like to share all you have with your whole heart, there are an awful lot of cooks in the kitchen of this lunation. Don’t let competing interests distract you from your guiding principles, goals, and the real work to be done.
♍ Virgo Moon
Something about this Full Moon in Leo is agitating your need for a real change, Virgo Moon, as you have either outgrown some tasks and responsibilities and need more of a challenge, or you secretly want to let go of a few things. Don’t fight the impulse, but do stay true to your integrity.
♎ Libra Moon
The Leo Full Moon illuminates both your hopes and your fears, Libra Moon. Your orientation to what is truly present in your life—contracted and despairing, or open-hearted and conscientious—makes a tremendous difference in how the month of February will unfold.
♏ Scorpio Moon
The Leo Full Moon looks like a pattern-breaker, Scorpio Moon, and sometimes that creates a struggle. If I see the thing, I can just fix it, right? It may be better to take time to thoroughly contemplate and accept what of yourself is being revealed. This is the path of power.
♐ Sagittarius Moon
It looks like the Full Moon in Leo offers you a spark of fresh inspiration, Sagittarius Moon, igniting a life-force deep within your fiery nature. Don’t ignore the devil in the details, but don’t let them dampen your spirits.
♑ Capricorn Moon
This lunation brings news of an end to problematic times, Capricorn Moon. If you’ve been dealing with instability, feeling excluded, or hampered by negativity, the Leo Full Moon indicates a turn in a positive direction.
♒ Aquarius Moon
With so much planetary pressure on you this month, the Leo Full Moon could mark an important turning point in your closest relationships. Breakthroughs concerning commitment, responsiveness, emotional availability, and warmth are in the cosmic flow, Aquarius Moon.
♓ Pisces Moon
The Full Moon in Leo could bring you a fresh perspective on troubles that have dogged you, Pisces Moon. Something previously hidden or misinterpreted could come to the light of day, helping you to see yourself or your self-sabotage with clarity and insight.
Full Moon in Leo: Sky Perspectives
The Leo Full Moon of February 1 reaches its exact opposition to the Aquarius Sun at 2:09 pm US/Pacific, adding fuel to the fire of a busy conversation between five planets currently parading through Aquarius. This sign of the communitarian and the common person will be tugging at our awareness through mid-February, churning up considerations of belonging, inclusion, and how to level the playing field.
We may find ourselves tipping into over-intellectualizing our conflicts and quandaries. The high emotions of the Full Moon may therefore trigger awareness of important feelings we’re leaving out, especially where we are sacrificing our own well-being on the altar of some abstract idea.
As broad-minded as Aquarius may be, its idealism may chafe against some of the realities of our moment, the messiness and the inherent confusion within the kairos of this year. “Kairos Time” is one of flux and change, bringing a measure of unpredictability. Allies and collaborators may not fit into those neat intellectual boxes that Aquarius tends to draw around the world.
"Some believe it is only a great power that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I have found,” said J.R.R. Tolkien’s character Gandalf the Grey in The Hobbit. “It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”
Mercury, Venus, Sun, & Mars Square Uranus
What is unloving or ill-fitting is likely to be winnowed out of the Aquarian crucible as Mercury, Venus, the Sun, and Mars all square the future-proofing energy of Uranus in succession, making exact aspects from February 5 to February 27. Whether we begin thinking about the year ahead in a different way, or are motivated to invest our energy in different people or projects, Uranus will stimulate us to embrace the new, to question external authority, and to value authenticity over conformity.
Annular Solar Eclipse of the Aquarius New Moon
The Sun’s time in Aquarius ends with a special bang, as the February 17 annular (nearly total) solar eclipse on the New Moon in Aquarius makes a close square aspect with dicey Uranus. Disruptive or challenging revelations could emerge through this cosmic event, though they may unfold over the next six months to a year.
Venus’s exact conjunction with the North Node of the Moon during this eclipse highlights money, social groups, and relationships, underlining the need to make changes in these areas to help us move forward in a positive direction. These changes may not feel great, or they may exact a price or bring unwanted loss, but a silver lining is there nonetheless.
Mercury Retrograde in Pisces
Mercury Trine Jupiter
We may not, however, make a clean break. Mercury’s entry into mystical Pisces on February 6 means Mercury is approaching its first retrograde of 2026. During this time, we may be going back over changes we’ve recently made or considered, reviewing details and second-guessing ourselves. All three of Mercury’s retrograde periods occur in water signs this year, highlighting our intuition and the struggle with accurate intuitions when we are fearful, anxious, or under duress. Practices that help reset our nervous system and generate heart-centered presence and awareness can truly help slow the spin in our minds and touch upon creative responses.
Fortunately, this retrograde period is also blessed with Mercury’s trine to Jupiter (exact February 16, March 8, and April 3), signifying the arrival of good news or connections important for our future growth. People from our past may resurface as helpers who connect us to resources or lift our spirits.
Saturn + Neptune in Aries
Saturn Conjoins Neptune
It may be helpful to some of us that the structure and ground of Saturn leaves soggy Pisces for the last time on February 13, finally committing to the rest of his tour of duty in Aries (until April 2028). Even though he moves quickly to make his first and only exact conjunction with the mystical depths of Neptune (February 20), which is very much like the diffusing and visionary quality of Pisces, Saturn in Aries will give us different marching orders. Here, the tempering maturity of Saturn meets the impulsive and headstrong Aries, and we’re made to consider the full consequences of our actions. We may find ways of being constructive (Saturn) with our anger (Aries), and face down fears (Saturn) in order to act with courage (Aries) and consideration (Saturn).
As many revelations as we’ve had since Saturn and Neptune began to fuse together in early 2024, this exact conjunction may, in fact, provide a big reveal, or the beginning of blinders falling from eyes. The phrase “there is no going back” has emerged quite a few times in various venues, and this is the voice of Saturn conjunct Neptune. As always with this combination, whenever we are hit with disillusionment, it’s important to remember that the nasty, bitter taste of having the wrong understanding or idea is not what is real and true.
Sustained and faithful observation, reflection, and consideration are required to make contact with truth following a disillusionment. Saturn’s time in Aries strongly advises against leaping to easy answers, conclusions, and impulsive crusades against the unpleasantness that is revealed. Commitment, integrity, and a felt obligation to work with the Sacred Other in all beings seems like a far more rewarding orientation to swimming with the current tides of the Anima Mundi, or Soul of the World.
Interested in a personalized astrological reading, intuitive reading, or healing ritual?
Get in touch with Erica here for a deep dive into archetypal astrology.
